R is for Roxeth

LONDON A-Z R is for Roxeth The view from Roxeth is very fine. The playing fields of Harrow School, the spire of St Mary's Church and various villas on the slopes below. However Roxeth isn't the cultured enclave at the top of Harrow Hill it's a suburb at the bottom, originally a village to the southwest, hence arguably Harrow-Under-The Hill. It's another example of somewhere that does have a station, indeed it has two, but ever since the bigger one was called South Harrow in 1903 the original name's been ebbing away. It lingers in streetnames, also the local library, park and two schools, whereas the local authority ward of the same name is a modern invention and doesn't quite match the original Roxeth at all. Let's start on the opposite side of the road to my first photo where we find Roxeth's oldest building, a 17th century weatherboarded farmhouse called Roxeth Farm. Alas the owners have sought to shield their property behind a very high hedge so all you can see is a hipped roof…